White King's Angel
by Spunky0ne
Summary: As Ywach's body explodes into dust, two souls are brought together, whose desires will shape the future of the quincy people. But not all quincies share in that vision and some with power are quite willing to kill to see that the desires of the true king die. Now, two young men hold the fate of all quincies in their hands…yaoi, mpreg…Uryuu/Tetsuya, Byakuya/Haschwald, Bazz-B/Renji
1. The Curtain Falls

**White King's Angel**

**By Spunky0ne**

**XXXXXXXXXX**

_**As Ywach's body explodes into dust, two souls are brought together, whose desires will shape the future of the quincy people. But not all quincies share in that vision and some with power are quite willing to kill to see that the desires of the true king die. Now, two young men hold the fate of all quincies in their hands…yaoi, mpreg…Uryuu/Tetsuya, Byakuya/Haschwald, Bazz-B/Renji, Kisuke/Ichigo, Aizen/Gin.**_

**XXXXXXXXXX**

**Chapter 1: The Curtain Falls**

The ground rumbled ominously under Uryuu's feet as he stood atop a small rise, watching Kurosaki Ichigo battle the horrifically evolved quincy king. His thoughts moved faster than his practiced hands as he summoned the still silver-tipped arrow and took aim.

_Thank you, Father._

_I understand now what it was I saw before that tortured me for so long. I wish I could have had the courage to ask you, but I know now that it is useless to look back. The important thing is that finally I know that you and I are not so very different. You said that you wanted the quincies to end, that you purposely ended the last pure line so that it would be made so. With your own hand, you brought down the purity of the race._

_Or so you thought…_

_But after so much thought and reflection, after watching and learning from you, after going my own way and finding my own truths, I have discovered what you were really trying to tell me._

_It wasn't the quincies you despised, no. It was our evolution you hated. You saw the path we were on and you felt it was wrong. Everything you did…to mother, to me, to yourself…it was all aimed at this moment, when the future falls into the hands of two Gemischt. I promise you, I will not hesitate. I promise you, I will not fail in my part, but with keeping the pride of the quincy fast in my heart and in my bow, I loose now the power to rewrite the future…to bring to life a future that you and I would both look forward to seeing._

Uryuu's slender, pale fingers released, sending the doctored arrow singing across the distance, where it found the turned back of the quincy king and impaled him through the heart.

_It will only be for a moment._

_Ichigo, sieze that moment, and destroy this fate._

_My part in this is done._

_It all rests on you now._

"NOW, KUROSAKI!" Uryuu screamed.

He was sure he should close his eyes, but found that he couldn't. He was forced to watch as time slowed to a crawl, and Ichigo's dark blade turned and moved in a painfully slowed arc across Ywach's mutated body.

_Too slow!_

_He won't make it!_

There wasn't time to know what had happened, or even time to scream as Ichigo's blade struck and the resulting blast bloomed violently outward. Uryuu's vision disappeared into a blinding flash of light, and he felt his slim body lifted and hurled away, he wasn't sure how far. And when he came down, the shock of his landing send him crashing into the blackness, still unsure what had become of that last, desperate attack.

_Did he do it?_

_Shouldn't I feel it inside? I can't move and I can't feel my own body anymore. Did Kurosaki win? Or…did we all die? What is this feeling of hanging in time, unable to connect with anything?_

_I want it to end._

_I want it to end._

_I need to wake up…_

…_wake up…_

…_wake…_

…_awaken…_

He wasn't sure how long he laid frozen on the ground with the rain pounding down on his battered body before his senses slowly began to return. He couldn't open his eyes, but he no longer felt so alone. No, he definitely felt the presence of another person.

_A quincy?_

_A shinigami?_

_A real angel?_

He wondered again if everyone had died in that final assault, but a ragged sigh escaped him and turned into a little relieved sob as he was able, once again, to register rain splashing on his face. He felt something brush against his face and heard a voice that he couldn't place, but one that he was sure he should know.

"You will be all right now. I've stopped the bleeding and mended the broken bones."

"Who…?" Uryuu croaked, his voice shaky and choked, "Who are you?"

New light seemed to well up from within Uryuu's teary eyes and he blinked several times as he began to see again. The face of the person leaning over him was pale and smudged, and his clothing was torn and muddy. But the light that had come from the injured quincy's blue eyes curled around his slender body, illuminating him and bringing him fully into focus. Uryuu's thoughts disappeared into a single shocked realization, and something he had read in one of the quincy histories came back to him in stunning detail.

_There was an old story of another time when the future of the quincies was to be decided, _he recalled, _and the king of that time was given the choice of what future he wanted to aim for. He looked into the eyes of his own future…and he poured his desire into it. The future appeared to him as an angel and together, they changed the path the quincies would follow._

_This…is our future then?_

_This is my angel?_

_His eyes are blue like mine, but deep sapphire and I can feel his heart as though it was beating in my own chest! _

_Who…is he?_

He heard the man make a sound of surprise and he felt a soft hand grasp at his, as though to anchor itself against something frightening.

_This is it, then. This is when I can bring my desires to life. If I take this angel's hand and I pour my hopes, my dreams and my desires into his body, then…we…like Ichigo's blade, I can destroy the fate that was ahead of us. I can alter our path. I am the chosen heir to Ywach, so this is within my power._

_So…given the future as a blank slate, what do I want?_

"Ishida Uryuu?"

_He knows my name. I get a feeling from him like I'm going home. Only it isn't the troubled place I remember, the place my father couldn't stomach living in. They only call it the shadows, but it's a world of possibility. It's just that we took a wrong turn in the past, and Ishida Ryuuken didn't think he had the power to change it. But…even by leaving the shadows and taking a place in the living world among the mortals, he couldn't escape his role. With his own hand, he changed the course of the future by choosing Katagiri to be my mother. Everyone else saw it as ending pure quincy blood…but that was fated to end anyway. Still, if the histories are correct, then…I can purify the blood in my body and renew the birthright power of the quincy old clans._

_All I have to do is to embrace the opportunity that this angel offers._

The light was so bright around them now that it seemed as though their bodies had burst into white flame. The only other color was the varying blue of their eyes. Uryuu sank into those otherworldly, deep sapphire orbs, his heart envisioning the future that was his to choose. And into his angel's whitelit body, he poured everything, every wish he had for connections he'd though long ago lost when his mother had died in the Auswhalen and his father had seemingly betrayed her memory and even her dignity by cutting her body to reveal the secrets of her death.

_For so long, I blamed my father for that. I blamed him for that and for his anger at the quincies, for his seeming dismissal of all we are. I thought he was scorning what it was to be a quincy, but his hatred was not for the quincies. It was for what we had become. I looked into the future and I saw hope. But, because he couldn't see that he was giving life to his desires and hopes in me, he thought his hopes had died with Katagiri._

_I want to tell him._

_I hope he's still alive._

_I want to go home and I want to tell him that things are going to be different now. The path I've chosen for the quincies isn't the one that Ywach chose. No. In this future, there is peace and there is community. There is order without domination. There is justice. And in the palace I imagine, where I am king?_

_There…is a family._

The vision of that future swelled so brilliantly and filled his mind so numbingly with its beauty that it overwhelmed him. He felt as though he was being thrown high into the air, but instead of coming down, he hung suspended on heavy throbs of a whole body euphoria. He surrendered with a hard cry of intense pleasure and let himself sink down into the stillness again to rest.

The warm pressure of his angel's hand on his made Ishida Uryuu smile.

_Thank you._

XXXXXXXXXX

Echoing voices began to sound distantly in Uryuu's mind and he tried to move, only to hear familiar voices telling him not to move.

_Dad?_

_Kurosaki Isshin?_

_Am I…home?_

He opened his eyes, blinking at the bright light in the room and straining to make his vision clear. Several muddled shapes leaning over him slowly resolved into that of his father and his friend's quincy father. Beside them, the shinigami captain commander tilted his head and smiled.

"So, you decided to wake up," he chuckled, "Probably a good thing too."

"H-huh?" Uryuu managed weakly, "Wh-where are we?"

"We are at Kuchiki Manor," Ryuuken explained, watching his son closely, "You were found collapsed in the area of the battle by several of the Kuchiki house guards. They brought you here for healing."

"Ichigo?" Uryuu managed, wincing slightly at how worried his voice sounded, asking.

"He's going to be all right," Isshin confirmed, "He's here too. The taichos and fukutaichos are here too. Kuchiki Manor is one of the only places in good enough shape to act as a triage center."

Uryuu's eyes blinked, then focused on Shunsui.

"What is going to happen to my father and me?" he asked quietly, "After all, our races were just involved in a devastating war."

Shusui smiled more warmly and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Well, we are still under martial law, so I have the choice of what to do," he answered calmly, "And I have decided to first hear what you have to say, then make my decision about what to do."

"I don't understand," Uryuu said, giving him a confused look.

"When you look at me, do you see an enemy?" Shunsui asked.

Uryuu started to answer immediately, then he felt the weight of the question and swallowed hard.

"You know that Ywach named me to be his heir?" he asked.

"Yes," Shunsui affirmed, "It was in intelligence that I received…although, in the battle, a lot of the things in my office were destroyed, so…no one else but me knows what it said."

"I'm sure _somebody _knows," Ryuuken said skeptically, "and that could be a problem."

"Well," the captain commander drawled, smirking, "Someone else may know, but there's no proof I knew in a time that would make apprehending you my job, right?"

"So…you're letting us go?"

Shunsui shrugged.

"I have eyewitnesses and Kurosaki…erm…_Shiba_ Ichigo's statement that you fired a shot that made killing Ywach possible. Urahara Kisuke made a statement to me that affirms that conclusion. He produced copies of research that he and Ishida Ryuuken engaged in that explained the dynamics of that arrow you were given and why it would stop Ywach's powers. As I see it, there is no good reason to keep you here."

"You're letting us go?" Uryuu repeated, staring, "But, I'm your…"

"We're only enemies if we choose to be," Shunsui interrupted, "I don't think I'm looking at an enemy."

"I don't want to be one."

"Then…we're done here. I've left it to Kisuke and Isshin to escort you home, if you think you can stand. I'd just…suggest you go before the noble families gather themselves and start electing new judges and sages for Central 46."

"New judges and sages?" Uryuu mused.

"The Central 46 compound was invaded and most of the sages and councilors who were being protected there were killed, along with their protectors. A rogue quincy fell down, out of the sky and trashed the place," Shunsui explained, "Everything's in disarray. You should go while that's still the case."

"I see. Okay," Uryuu answered, slipping his feet over the edge of the bed.

His breath caught as Ryuuken bent and placed fresh sandals on his feet.

"You don't have to…"

"Don't be ridiculous. You can't walk back to the living world barefoot."

Isshin wrapped a warm cloak around him and pulled the hood over his head to cover his face, while Ryuuken similarly cloaked and hooded himself. Uryuu felt a strange warmth in his chest as his father's arm wrapped around him, and Ryuuken helped him to his feet.

"I don't know if I can…"

"Lean against me," Ryuuken said, supporting him as the two left the bedroom and stepped out into the Kuchiki Manor gardens.

Except that the gardens he remembered were gone completely.

Uyruu stared in dismay, shivering at the sight of the torn ground, upended trees and heavily damaged buildings with a stubborn rain spilling down on them.

"We need to go," his father warned him, coaxing him along as Kisuke and Ichigo joined them, with the latter similarly cloaked and hooded and supported by Urahara.

"Everyone here?" Kisuke asked, opening a Kuchiki family senkaimon.

The others made sounds of assent, and began to head into the senkaimon, but they stopped as Byakuya's voice called out form behind them.

"Wait a moment."

Uryuu blinked and met the Kuchiki leader's eyes, surprised that Byakuya was looking directly at him.

"Ishida Uryuu, I heard you were here and I have come to ask you if you have seen this man."

He moved closer and produced a photograph of a sapphire-eyed shinigami wearing the navy uniform of the Kuchiki house guards and marked as a healer.

"This man is my cousin, Kuchiki Tetsuya," Byakuya explained, "He acts as my personal bodyguard and my healer. He was last sensed near where you were found. Do you recall seeing him?"

Uryuu thought that the man's face, especially his eyes, looked somewhat familiar, but as much as he strained, he couldn't seem to recall where he might have seen the man before.

"I…I can't say that I have seen him," Uryuu admitted, "but I was out cold for a long time."

"The house guards who found you said that Tetsuya had been with you, at some point. You don't recall seeing him at all?"

"I'm sorry," Uryuu said penitently, "I wish I could tell you something."

He fell in again with the others, leaving, but with an image ingrained in his mind of Byakuya looked down at the picture in his hands with a sad reverence he found almost heartbreaking.

_I hope he finds Tetsuya._

_If anyone could still be alive after being out there…_

XXXXXXXXXX

Tetsuya woke to soft sounds of quiet voices and the dizzy feeling of having been sedated. He breathed slowly, opening his eyes, but finding them covered lightly. When he tried to move, he felt the presence of soft restraints, then the touch of a warm, gentle hand.

"Please don't move too much," a woman's voice warned him, "You nearly destroyed yourself before, healing those two men we found you with. You will be glad to know that they are resting comfortably now. You were successful in saving their lives, though I don't know how. But, I am grateful…so, I will allow you to live if you will agree to having all but your healing power sealed away, and if you agree not to try to leave here."

"Where am I?" Tetsuya asked, blinking and looking up at the tall, older woman as she removed the covering from over his eyes.

"You are in the shadows now, the home of the quincy people. And more specifically, you are in the quincy palace…"

The woman stiffened slightly and stared in surprise as Tetsuya said the name of the palace along with her.

"Silbern."


	2. Shifting Paths, Altered Fates

**Chapter 2: Shifting Paths, Altered Fates**

"What am I to call you?" Tetsuya asked, trying to ignore the nagging ache in his head as he stood in front of a full length mirror, studying the bright white clothing he had been dressed in, and the lovely, delicate looking silver bands that encircled his wrists, enslaving his shinigami powers and leaving him capable of only healing, "I don't think you ever gave me your name."

The elder quincy woman paused to wrap a stocked healer's pack around Tetsuya's slender shoulders and he found himself once again taken aback that her touch seemed very gentle, almost caretaking.

"My name is Elena Brandt," she answered, her head bowing slightly as she fastened the pack in place, "I am personal attendant to Commander Haschwald, whom you managed to heal, despite the presence of still silver in his heart."

She stepped back to observe Tetsuya's much altered reflection, studying the weighted look in the shinigami's eyes as he gazed at himself in the mirror.

"You look like one of us now," Elena commented quietly, "and I think it is time that we talk in more detail, Kuchiki Tetsuya."

She motioned briefly to a chair placed at a small table, where tea and a meal had been laid out for one.

"Please, sit and refresh yourself. You are weary and still recovering from injury and from the strain of using powers that it seems you barely control."

She looked as though she expected an answer, but Tetsuya remained silent as he sat down and began to eat.

"We know your name only because of the prison marking on the back of your right shoulder," Elena went on, "Considering the level of power you were using, we should have had detailed files on you, however, there was no record of you at all."

"I am a mixed blood," Tetsuya explained, guessing that he wasn't admitting anything that wasn't completely obvious, "That is why I was imprisoned."

Elena nodded.

"In a prison as unknown as you are, it seems," she said in a troubled tone, "We are aware that there are some very powerful mixed blood nobles whose families allow them to use the family name, but do not accord them the importance that they do their pureblood sons."

"Hmm," Tetsuya sighed, "much like your Gemischt, is it not?"

The elder woman gave him a curious smile.

"You know some surprising things, Kuchiki Tetsuya," she commented, "the name of the quincy palace, the name for our mixed bloods. You were in a position of some importance, then?"

"Not really," Tetsuya lied, "I was merely underfoot a lot and overheard some things."

"Ah," Elena said, her cool blue eyes locking on Tetsuya's brighter sapphire ones, "I see. Though, it seems odd for one imprisoned to be in any position of trust. After all, you are a criminal?"

"No," Tetsuya admitted, again sure that the woman must have some inkling of what he was saying already, "not everyone placed in the noble's prisons were criminals. And in fact, my only _crime_ was to be born of a noble man and a peasant woman in a time when such was severely punished. I was released as a teen and allowed to assume a position in one of the subfamilies. Our leader took a liking to me and had me attend him at some meetings, especially as war loomed."

"And where is your master now, Kuchiki Tetsuya?" Elena asked tilting her head slightly.

Tetsuya drew in a shaky breath and exhaled slowly.

"I don't know," he sighed anxiously, "We were separated in the fighting and, although I searched the battlefield, I did not find any clues as to his fate."

"But you did find two enemy officers, both high ranking and both on the verge of death…and your instinct was to postpone your search for your missing master and to heal these two enemies."

"They might have known what happened to…"

"Tetsuya," Elena said sternly, making the young man pause and stare at her questioningly, "your master could have been on the verge of dying as well. You would have to have known this, yet you focused your attention on Commander Haschwald and Officer Black."

"All healers take an oath to preserve life where they can," Tetsuya reasoned, "and I did believe that those two officers would know the fate of a powerful pureblood member of our family. I know how much data the quincy spies were able to steal."

"Yes," Elena said pointedly, "and you obviously know far too much for someone who was only _underfoot_, as you put it. Tell me now who you are. What position did you hold that made you privy to the secrets of the quincy world? How did you know the name of the palace? How did you know about the Gemischt?"

"Are those really secrets?" Tetsuya asked, shaking his head, "Don't you think a healer working with subfamily leadership would overhear things of that sort, now and again? It's not like I know anything important about your leadership or your society. I only know you also have noble houses and that you had a king who lived in a palace called Silbern. I promise you, I have no desire to harm anyone here. I am a healer, and I thought you understood that."

"Hmm, I do," Elena assured him, giving him a thoughtful frown, "I just know that there is more to you than what you say, and I do plan to learn your secrets…Perhaps we can start with your mother."

"My mother?" Tetsuya repeated, shaking his head, "She was a Rukongai…"

"Your mother was not of the Rukongai," Elena said shortly, "or if that was where she was, it was not where she belonged."

"What?" Tetsuya mused, What are you talking about? My mother was Kiko of the mid Rukongai. It's in what records weren't destroyed…everything I was given after my release from the prison."

Elena's eyes widened and she looked more deeply into Tetsuya's, searching for any sign of deception. After several minutes, she took a shaky breath and broke eye contact.

"You really don't know?" she mused, "How is that possible?"

"I don't know what?" Tetsuya demanded, "What are you saying to me?"

"I ran blood tests when we found you," Elena explained, showing him the documents, "Kuchiki Tetsuya, you are not just a shinigami of noble descent. You are also a quincy."

XXXXXXXXXX

Kisuke stole a sideways glance at Ichigo as the two headed down to the underground training room and prepared to enter a senkaimon together.

"Hey, you sure you're feeling up to this?" he asked, "After all, you were only recently healed."

"I'm okay," Ichigo insisted, "Besides, you said that they found Aizen?"

"Yeah, I said that all right," the shopkeeper confirmed, tipping his striped hat forward slightly, "Don't have a clue as to why you're so concerned. Central 46 is a mess, but you know there's no one better suited to keep that guy under control than me."

"Yeah," Ichigo sighed, frowning and glancing at the gooey, purplish walls of the precipice world as they entered it together, "I know that. I just…have some questions I gotta ask him, that's all."

"You know you should still be resting and letting the powers that be handle the clean up…"

"That's not what this is about," Ichigo said, reaching up to scratch the back of his neck, "I just…need to talk to him for a minute about something. It's kinda personal."

"Personal huh?" Kisuke mused, eyeing him more closely, then slipping a hand into his, "Do I need to be worried about this?"

"Nah," Ichigo assured him, yielding a little smile as the shopkeeper's lips touched his cheek, then the side of his neck as he pressed closer, "Look, it's just that he didn't have to help me, you know."

Kisuke gave his lover a skeptical look.

"Ichigo, what have I told you about letting that guy get under your skin? You know that Aizen helped you for one reason and one reason only. There was something in it for him to do so. That's all. He wasn't being nice and it wasn't that he has a soft spot for you. He was out to get something for himself, cause that's what he does."

"He did protect Renji."

"He wasn't protecting Renji or you. He was trying to confuse Ywach. C'mon, you gotta know that, right?"

"Yeah, I know. But whatever his reasons, the facts are the same. In that moment, he protected what I was tryin' to protect."

"You don't owe him anything."

"No, I don't," the shinigami substitute agreed, squeezing the shopkeeper's warm hand, "I just don't forget things like that, so I'm gonna make sure that he knows I appreciate what he did for my friends and me."

"He didn't do it for you."

"But, he did do it. To me, it matters."

"All right," Kisuke chuckled, stealing another kiss as they approached their exit into Soul Society, "You're the hero of Soul Society, so who am I to argue? I think these guys will give you pretty much anything you want. All you have to do is…"

The two men skidded to a stop and stared in surprise as they stepped out of the senkaimon and found themselves facing Kuchiki Byakuya and his bandaged, but still functioning subordinate.

"Byakuya, Renji," Ichigo greeted them, "What are you doing here?"

"I sensed your return to Soul Society," Byakuya explained, "and I came to ask the two of you if you have seen this man. He has been missing since the final battle with the quincy king, and he was seen near the site of that confrontation. He disappeared while leading a rescue mission to find you and the others who met Ywach head on and to make sure that if you needed healing, it was seen to quickly."

"Huh," Ichigo said, frowning and studying the photograph, "I kinda remember seeing some of your house guards, but I was kinda out of it, so I couldn't tell you what they looked like."

"That is unfortunate."

"Yeah, sorry."

Kisuke studied the picture briefly, then tilted his head slightly and gave Byakuya a measured look.

"That's your bodyguard, right?" he asked, his voice suggesting more than the simple words stated.

"He is," Byakuya confirmed, "More than that, Tetsuya and I are close. Our fathers were first cousins and shared a close bond. It was that bond that I was honoring when I found Tetsuya and brought him into the main household to serve as my protector and healer."

Ichigo's frown deepened.

"If you're so close, then why is it I never met him when I would come to Kuchiki Manor?" he asked.

"It is part of Tetsuya's job to remain in the background and to gather information for me," Byakuya explained.

"He's very good at hiding. You don't think he's on some kinda trail or anything, do you?" Kisuke asked, "After all…"

He broke off as Byakuya shot him a look of warning.

"After all, he coulda come across something or someone important out there, right? If he did, he could be following up on that."

"Be that as it may," Byakuya said solemnly, "neither Tetsuya, nor his stallion, Arashi have made any contact with me. As I said, we have a bond, and I should have been able to read his location as the heavy reiatsu in the area has dissipated. I have found no sign of him."

He paused and his expression clouded.

"It is as though he has simply ceased to exist."

"Do you want help looking for him?" Ichigo asked, "I mean, I'm busy with something now, but…"

"Thank you, Ichigo," Byakuya said, giving the shinigami substitute a look of genuine gratitude, "If you wish to join in the search for Tetsuya, we would appreciate the help. Come to Kuchiki Manor when your business here is concluded."

"We'll do that," Kisuke answered, "We should be there by dinnertime."

"I will have a meal prepared for you."

The men took their leave of each other and Kisuke and Ichigo continued on towards Central 46. Ichigo was quietly thoughtful for several minutes, then he stole a glance at his blonde lover.

"You gonna tell me what it is that you and Byakuya know about that guy, Tetsuya, that he didn't want you to say in front of me?" Ichigo asked, "I'm clueless sometimes, but I know there was something he didn't want you to say."

"And now, you just can't help but wanna know," Kisuke chuckled, "Fine, I'll tell you, but you've gotta promise me that it stays between me and you, all right?"

"I _knew_ it…"

"I only know because I was there when Byakuya was a teen, and he led the rescue mission that freed Tetsuya from a pretty bad situation."

"What kinda mess was he in?"

Kisuke stopped him, just short of the Central 46 entrance.

"Tetsuya's father, Takao, was close to Soujun."

"Kuchiki Soujun? Byakuya's father?"

Kisuke gave him a curious look.

"I saw a picture before at Byakuya's place," Ichigo explained, "Rukia told me a little about it…at least, who they were."

"Takao and Soujun were both serving as officers in the sixth division. But awhile back, something happened and Takao disappeared. Soujun searched, but he never found his cousin. Byakuya picked up the investigation after finding information showing his father had been looking for Takao. He found Takao had been abducted and imprisoned in an illegal noble's facility in the Rukongai wilderness. Records indicated that he was incarcerated there with a wife and child. Soujun had made no mention of Takao being married, but other information Byakuya found indicated that the child Takao had with his wife was of impure blood, which would explain why they were taken. That kinda thing was punished severely back then, and when Byakuya looked more closely at the intelligence, he came to a pretty stunning conclusion."

"What was that?" Ichigo asked curiously.

"Well, reading between the lines, he surmised that Takao's wife was more than just a Rukongai girl. He knew that if what he suspected was true, then Tetsuya would probably be killed or imprisoned again, but he had to have his answers, so he came to me and I confirmed it, then helped him to hide the truth from everyone."

"What truth is that?" Ichigo asked, giving the shopkeeper a confused look.

"Tetsuya…is a half-quincy."

XXXXXXXXXX

_Ishida Uryuu_, called a male voice, garbled by the quincy's muddled mind, _I am a healer. I'm going to take care of you._

_Uryuu groaned and cracked his eyes open, then squinted at the painfully bright light. The only thing that reached him was a flash of gemlike sapphire, then everything went dark again._

"Uryuu."

The sound of his father's voice jolted him awake, even though Ryuuken had spoken softly. He sat up, then put a palm to his aching head, squinting in the bright morning light.

"I thought I was supposed to sleep," Uryuu said wryly, smirking very slightly.

"You are supposed to sleep and you are supposed to eat," Ryuuken advised him in the tone of a doctor.

Uryuu didn't miss how his tone changed to a softer one when he continued.

"You did what you needed to do, now you need to rest, eat and heal."

"You brought me home."

"Yes," his father affirmed, setting a tray of food in Uryuu's lap.

He sat down in a chair by the bed, watching calmly as his son began to eat.

"Was it a troublesome dream you were having?" Ryuuken asked, "You seemed uncomfortable. It's to be expected, of course, after having spent as much time as you did in that monster's presence. You are lucky to be alive and recurring nightmares are par for the course."

"Right."

Uryuu continued to eat quietly while Ryuuken sighed and relaxed in his chair.

"This is good. You put something in it."

"Just something to speed your healing, with an herb that encourages you to eat more. You depleted yourself dangerously."

"Didn't have much of a choice," the younger Ishida answered around a mouthful of food.

"Hmm."

Ryuuken focused on the floor, thinking for several minutes before looking up at his son and asking the question that had been nagging at him for some time.

"We need to talk about something. When I reached the royal realm to look for you before finding you in Soul Society, I found one of these."

The elder Ishida held up a small device and Uryuu's brow furrowed and his head bowed, but he gave no immediate answer.

"And I thought that I was the one who hated the quincy race," Ryuuken said dryly, "Son, you know, even if you had blown the other sternritters and the royal realm to bits with these, you wouldn't have killed Ywach. Not unless you used the still silver to incapacitate his powers just before detonation…and at that point, you didn't know about the still silver. It was a suicide mission you planned."

"Well, it failed anyway when Haschwald found some of the devices and destroyed them," Uryuu sighed, "But go on. You can scold me for my recklessness. I'm a captive audience right now since I'm still recovering."

"You _were_ reckless," Ryuuken agreed, his blue eyes meeting his son's as Uryuu lifted his chin slightly, "however, that is as much my fault as yours."

Uryuu blinked in surprise.

"What?"

"I knew before you left that you were going to try to do something, though I couldn't imagine what. Despite the things you say, you care about both the quincies and your friends. Ywach was a threat to all of them."

"And our family too," Uryuu added.

Ryuuken's breath caught almost inaudibly.

"That too," he replied, "In any case, knowing that you would not take my advice and stay out of the conflict altogether, I should have informed you about the still silver, as I did know. I suppose that by not telling you, I thought I was protecting you. It was selfish and even more than that, it was pointless, as you recklessly went to Ywach anyway. That said, I owe you an apology. I am…sorry, Uryuu."

"Huh, you don't need to be," Uryuu said off-handedly, "We both made mistakes, but luckily we're still alive and what we wanted to protect has been protected."

"Yes, it has," the elder Ishida agreed, "Friends and family are safe and Ywach is dead. The only thing that remains is for you to decide what path you want to take. You are Ywach's successor."

"Yeah."

Ryuuken's head tilted and he watched his son for a minutes, noting the signs of internal struggle.

"You are considering?"

"Well, it's kind of a big decision," Uryuu pointed out, "If I accept, then I'm their king and I have to go into the shadows to stay. If I abdicate, then I have nothing to say about who is chosen to lead them."

"Well, at very least, Ywach killed the most worrisome of the quincies, himself. In all of the quincies, I believe you and I are the only ones able to use a Vollstandig. Even if you abdicate, we can certainly monitor what happens and make an effort to ensure that they don't end up with another raving lunatic leading them. You could…pursue your studies here and…do whatever you wish."

Uryuu took a steadying breath.

"I was thinking of going to medical school."

He almost smiled at the surprised look his father gave him.

"I…thought that you had no interest in that, although you certainly are talented," Ryuuken commented.

"Yeah, well, I was thinking that maybe I want to be a doctor after all."

He paused, considering his words carefully.

"I was wrong to ever think that you would do anything disrespectful to Mom. I should have just asked you to explain."

Ryuuken shook his head firmly.

"You were just a small child. I should have been more careful, so that you wouldn't see. And when you were old enough, I should have explained what I had done and why. Still…the past is done. We can't change it. We need to be mindful of where we are now, and where we want to go. So, you wish to be a doctor?"

"Yes, but, honestly, I'm worried about what will happen to them, the ones in the shadows, if I don't go and take my place with them."

Ryuuken gave him a patient smile.

"The quincies managed to survive for a very long time without you. I am sure they will recover. And if they have no one capable of troubling the shinigamis, then maybe the two races can avoid trying to destroy each other for awhile."

Uryuu looked down at his half-finished meal, his mind turning this direction and that. Ryuuken observed his obvious discomfort and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Rest for now," he advised his son, "You don't have to decide right away. The shinigamis and quincies are both too battered to fight anymore."

"I don't think that's good enough," Uryuu said in a discomfited tone, "There needs to be an overture from our side, since we were the ones who started the war. For that to happen, things need to be decided."

"I see," Ryuuken sighed, closing his eyes for a moment, "and the only way for that to happen is for you to go to the shadows and assume your place there."

Uryuu looked up at him somberly.

"You said it yourself. We are the only ones capable of using our Vollstandig now. If we want peace, but we do not want the shinigamis enslaving or destroying us, then we need strong negotiations. We need there to be order."

"And you think that you, Ywach's successor can simply go to the palace and convince everyone there that you are the best person for the job?"

"Dad," Uryuu said softly, "I think everyone there is aware by now…I'm the only one left who has any hope of protecting them from the backlash that will come from Soul Society. If I walk away from them now, there really might be a successful genocide."

"So, you've decided then? You are going?"

Uryuu took a shuddering breath and nodded.

"I see," Ryuuken replied, stepping back slightly, "Then…I will go with you."


	3. Secrets

**Chapter 3: Secrets**

Elena observed closely as Tetsuya knelt at the quincy, Bazz-B's side and extended his hands over the injured officer. Blue light flared in his eyes and radiated down his arms, to his open palms, seeping out of him and into his unconscious patient. The lady quincy's breath caught as she watched Tetsuya's watery blue reiatsu form the shape of Bazz-B's missing arm, then it slowly solidified, perfectly replacing the quincy's missing limb. Tetsuya extended his healing field to surround the quincy's body, then he swiftly restored the man's reiatsu before sighing wearily and letting his power fade. He swallowed hard, and after a moment, he began to sway slightly. A sound of surprise escaped him as Elena's arm wrapped around him, steadying him, and he focused his tired eyes on the attendant.

"Truly, you have a powerful healing gift," she acknowledged, "It is clear to me that your ability is as hybrid as you are, as it follows neither the quincy nor the shinigami methods. It is truly unique."

Tetsuya frowned, looking down at his hands for a moment, then he looked back at Elena with a troubled expression.

"I still don't understand," he said softly, "How can I be half quincy? I saw my mother in the prison, though it was only a few times, and she never once told me that she was anything but a whole, like everyone else in the Rukongai."

"Of course she did," Elena sighed, touching Tetsuya's face gently and looking down into his eyes, "If it was bad, just being a mixed blood shinigami, then imagine how it would have been for both of you if it was known she was a quincy. She hid the fact for your safety and hers, and she never told you, because in the confines of the prison, she had no assurance that your conversation would be private."

"I suppose that is true," Tetsuya agreed, dropping his gaze, "There was no thing as privacy in Itamigiri. There was no mercy…and there was no justice for us…not even when we were freed. She was right not to expose us to further cruelty as a full quincy and a hybrid. I just wish that…that there could have been a moment, just one time when she could have told me."

Elena smiled down at him sympathetically.

"I am sure that she would very much have wanted to tell you. From just the little you have said to me about her, she seems to have been a very loving and devoted mother."

Tetsuya nodded, closing his eyes as he remembered.

Mother told me once that our captors' cruelty was a poison, and that I must never let that poison reach my heart, or I would become as empty, as hollow inside as they were. It was never an easy path to choose, and sometimes, I wanted to hate the people who hurt me and my parents…the ones who killed them. But somehow, I hung onto those words that my mother gave me, and one day I was freed."

"You became the ward of Kuchiki Byakuya's cousin, Sadao, and his wife, Mai Kuchiki?"

"Yes. It was Sadao and Mai who really taught me what a family was. When I realized what it was that I had been missing, I broke down and cried for the family that I should have had…the one that was shattered and lost when my parents were captured and killed. I couldn't really mourn until then, because I didn't understand before."

"I am sure that learning of your connection to the quincies opens up another wound in your already battered heart," Elena said solemnly, "So will you tell me, Kuchiki Tetsuya, what are your feelings about being one of us? Are you angry that this was kept from you? And with this knowledge you have gained, what is your desire?"

Tetsuya breathed slowly, thinking longingly of the mother and father he barely remembered, then of the shinigami cousin who saved him and the loving family that had adopted him as a feral, uncivilized teen. He met Elena's eyes again sadly.

"I want to know who she was," he answered softly, "I want to know who she really was, and why she was hiding in the Rukongai, and why my father left his family to protect her, for I know that's what he did."

"There is a story there," Elena agreed, and I think you must pursue it, but Tetsuya, you must be very cautious. The secrets of your past, are, I sense, dangerous ones. If your mission becomes known to the wrong person or people, then you would likely lose your life. Tread cautiously. Be careful who you trust."

Tetsuya's blue eyes widened.

"D-does this mean that you are letting me go?" he asked wonderingly.

"Not exactly," the attendant explained, "You see, now that we know you are a quincy, you fall under our jurisdiction. I will send someone with you, one whose job will be both to protect you and to ensure your return to us. I will send you into the Rukongai, and I want you to pursue your mother's history. I believe that if you wish to know who you are, then you must first understand why and how you came to be."

Tetsuya was quiet for a moment as he considered her words carefully.

"May I ask you something?" he said finally, "I am curious. It seems that the noble shinigamis view things like mixed blood and mixed races with great disdain, even hatred. You don't seem to feel the same. Why is that? Is because you personally have an interest in me of some kind? Or is it that the quincies as a race are less biased about such things?"

Elena gave him a tired smile and sighed softly, touching his face lightly.

"Sadly, just as there is bigotry and hatred of difference in your shinigami noble families, such unfair bias lives in our society too. But…we are in interesting times. The soul king is dead and the only reason we still survive is because the shinigamis have placed the dead tyrant, Ywach's, body on the throne."

Tetsuya's breath caught and his eyes rounded. His hand rose to capture the one still touching his face.

"The soul king is dead?" he whispered, "And…there…is no king?"

"Not that the king was a true king even before this war…but, you know that, don't you, Kuchiki Tetsuya?"

Tetsuya bit his lip gently, debating for a moment.

"It's all right," Elena chuckled, "I have already figured out that you are more than a simple servant in your family, who was always underfoot and simply heard things. You were close to your clan's leader. He confided in you. You are powerful and you are also capable of healing. We had heard of a shinigami near Kuchiki Byakuya, who was his protector and his healer, but even with our very capable methods, this man was no more than a shadow…Kuchiki Tetsuya."

Tetsuya stared back at the quincy woman wordlessly.

"So, it seems we have our ghost, right here," Elena concluded, "Byakuya was the _master_ you were looking for, wasn't he?"

Tetsuya remained frozen and gave no answer.

"It's fine. No answer is all of the answer I need."

"What are you going to do now?" Tetsuya asked suddenly, looking into Elena's deep, unreadable grey eyes, "I ask because I know already what the quincy protocol is for captured high officers. They are subjected to torture for what information can be extracted, then they are ransomed or killed if they are not useful hostages. Is this the fate you have in mind for me, Elena?"

Elena's eyes blinked slowly, then turned in the direction of the unconscious Haschwald.

"The truth," she answered softly, leaving Tetsuya and moving to the fallen commander's side to take Haschwald's pale, limp hand, "is that if there was not such chaos here in the quincy seat of power, if you had been found by Ywach before his death, or even if you were found now by a powerful quincy leader, you would certainly meet with that fate. The collapse of our society in the wake of Ywach's death leaves me with an interesting possibility."

She lifted her eyes and met Tetsuya's gaze again.

"I have already told you what I want from you," she continued, "I feel that the best course, for you and for me, is to pursue this as I said. You must leave the shadows and travel to the Rukongai. You must let no one know who you are, for your life would surely be in danger."

"And why do you care about my life so much?" Tetsuya demanded, "Me, a mixed blood and part shinigami? Why are you doing all of this?"

Elena sighed more deeply and closed her eyes.

"You saved Jugram Haschwald, a divergent quincy, who was once a gentle soul like yourself. When Jugram came to the palace with Haschwald, he was young and vulnerable, and he did not know his own value. Ywach twisted him and ingrained in him a deep loyalty that was slowly destroying him from the inside. I am sure that, had you not found him and healed his body, he would have died that awful, callous being Ywach warped him into."

The elder woman's eyes opened again and looked into Tetsuya's.

"Commander Haschwald will wake soon, and I know that all that has happened will leave him torn and even more broken inside. It is my hope that you…this healer who appeared out of the ashes of Ywach's fall…will be able to fully restore him."

"And why does he mean so much to you?" Tetsuya pressed, "Are you in love with him or…?"

"Love," Elena repeated, smiling faintly, "not the kind of love you are thinking of, Kuchiki Tetsuya. Think of me simply as someone who has suffered losses. I do not want Jugram Haschwald to be added to that list."

"I see."

"So," Elena said, gently setting Haschwald's hand down on the bed, "as soon as these two officers are fully stabilized, you will go."

The two stiffened as footsteps approached, and a quincy guard accompanied two men into the room.

"It's true, then!" Uryuu said incredulously, "Bazz-B and Haschwald are still alive?"

He looked from his staring father to the tall, stern-looking quincy woman who stood at Haschwald's bedside.

"Elena," Uryuu went on, "how did this happen? I know what I felt before. How were they saved?"

He looked past her to the young man who stood a short distance behind her, looking quietly at the floor. He started to speak, then he paused and moved forward to stand in front of Tetsuya, his frown deepening and his blue eyes intense.

"I _know_ you," he said insistently, "You're close to Byakuya. He was looking for you. Your name is Tetsuya."

"Yes," Tetsuya answered softly.

"Why are you here?" Uryuu asked stridently, "Tell me now, Tetsuya! Who are you working for? Are you Byakuya's right hand?"

He paused and his eyes glinted aggressively.

"Or…were you merely watching Byakuya and giving information to Ywach?"

XXXXXXXXXX

Byakuya waited as the servers laid out food for the Kuchiki leader and his two guests, then he set a privacy shield around the garden dinner table, earning him curious glances from the Karakura shopkeeper and the shinigami substitute.

"What's going on, Byakuya?" Ichigo asked, "Are you worried about the reports of continued attacks by quincies in the area?"

"We heard the reports on that as we came in from Muken," Kisuke added, "Ywach sure made a mess of that place. He made a mess of just about everything. Your staff has done a good job of getting things up and running here, though."

"Yes, their efforts are certainly commendable," Byakuya agreed, "but going back to Ichigo's question, no, it is not the quincy suicide attackers that most concern me. Rather, it is that I need to have a conversation with the two of you that I do not mean to be shared with anyone else. Kisuke, I believe you know what I am going to say, and Ichigo, I have decided to include you in the conversation, because, as one like the person we are about to discuss, you are a shinigami/quincy hybrid."

"You're referring to Tetsuya," Kisuke reasoned.

"Yes," Byakuya affirmed, turning his attention to Ichigo, "to catch you up, Ichigo, my cousin, Tetsuya was said to have been born of a noble father, Kuchiki Takao, and a peasant mother, Kiko of the mid-Rukongai. The only records that are known to the Kuchiki elders indicate this, however, after Tetsuya's rescue, while he was being treated for injury and malnutrition, Kisuke discovered that Tetsuya is not, in fact, wholly shinigami. It is well documented that Kuchiki Takao was pureblood noble and a full shinigami."

"So, that means that if Tetsuya is a hybrid, like me, it came through his mother," Ichigo replied.

"Correct," Byakuya said, nodding, "Now, the souls in the Rukongai are wholes, and they are not quincies. The quincies are a separate race living mostly within the shadows, which is the place where the quincy royalty and soul populace is housed. Quincies of the shadows may cross into the living world, Soul Society, Hueco Mundo or the royal realm using a series of entry points that were made ling ago, and keys that control them."

"The entry points are called sun gates," Kisuke supplied, "and they are how Soul Society was both monitored before the war, and subsequently invaded by the quincies."

"There is no question that Tetsuya is a shinigami/quincy hybrid," Byakuya went on, "and that Takao was his shinigami parent, but what we cannot tell is how his quincy mother came to be living in the Rukongai. I have gone through all of the references in the family archive, as well as examining the records in Central 46. I had to be cautious, so that it was not known what I was attempting to do, or Tetsuya's life would be endangered. Still, despite all of my searching, I have found nothing that explains any of this."

"And now Tetsuya is missing," Kisuke said, frowning.

"Yes," Byakuya affirmed, "and that is distressing enough. But…there is something more about Tetsuya that has been hidden from the elders, and that is that Tetsuya, whose father was Takao, is in the direct line of descent from the Kuchiki progenitor, Kuchiki Hajime."

Kisuke's eyes widened and Ichigo looked at the other two men blankly.

"Kuchiki progenitor?" he repeated.

Byakuya nodded.

"It is a secret carried and passed from one Kuchiki leader to the next, so no one in the family, not even the elders, know that Tetsuya is a descendant of one of the children that Hajime bore and raised in the royal realm. You see, with each of the clans, there was a progenitor, and all of the other progenitor's left the royal realm to begin their clans. Kuchiki Hajime was the beloved of the soul king. The king made a son from Hajime's reiatsu to go to Soul Society and start our clan, but there were more children born of Hajime's body who stayed with the king and consort. A few descendants have gone to Soul Society, but because of their closeness to the king and consort, their identities as direct children of Hajime was only revealed to the Kuchiki leader. This was for their protection, as well as the protection of the king."

"The soul king!" Ichigo repeated incredulously, "You mean the one that…?"

"No," Byakuya explained, "The king who you met in the royal realm was actually the quincy king from a thousand years ago, who invaded the royal realm and killed everyone he found there. He was badly injured in the battle, and when captured, he agreed to maintain the balance of souls in exchange for his life being spared. No one has ever known the fate of the true king, though it is rumored that he and Hajime escaped the royal realm through the soul well, where new souls are gathered and sent to the three worlds. In any case, the fact that Tetsuya is a direct descendant of the royal consort, and he is also part quincy resulted in uniqueness in his powers that has been slowly growing since his emancipation from the prison."

Byakuya paused and drew a troubled breath.

"Tetsuya knows nothing of these things," he admitted, "I knew when I went looking for him, that he was a direct descendent of Hajime, and I learned quickly that he has a version of Hajime's powerful healing gift. He is special in other ways, but the most important thing is that the combination of Hajime's giftedness and quincy power, if revealed, would be read as a threat to both the quincies and the shinigami noble families. I doubt that Tetsuya would survive if the truth became known. So, I want to continue the search for him, but I need to do that quietly."

"Well, we're glad to help," Ichigo said, glancing at Kisuke, who nodded affirmatively.

"Thank you," Byakuya said gratefully, "I have done all of the searching for Tetsuya I can in Soul Society and I will search for clues elsewhere, but there is one place I cannot reach without your help."

Kisuke made a sound of surprise and froze, staring in dismay.

"I need the two of you to help me reach the quincy palace in the shadows."


End file.
